Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute teaching, Lama Lhundup guides students through rigorous analytical meditation on emptiness of the self, using the four-point analysis method central to Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. He establishes that the I exists only as a merely-named designation imputed by consciousness upon the five aggregates—not as an independent entity—and walks through three essential conditions for valid nominal existence: a valid basis of imputation, a valid imputing consciousness, and non-refutation by ultimate analysis. He then applies this same logical framework to refute the independent existence of all phenomena, using concrete examples of the body, parts like the head and hand, and composite objects to show how things appear concretely but arise only through aggregation of causes and conditions. The teaching emphasizes repeated contemplation and analysis as the path to genuine realization, noting that correct understanding of emptiness paradoxically strengthens confidence in karma and causality, and leads to freedom from cyclic existence. Intended for students with foundational knowledge of Buddhist emptiness doctrine.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 04 E.mp3
UUID: 34d79735-2a57-4a65-81a4-cf4ad323eb0a
Teacher: Lama Lhundup
Collection: Emptiness (Lama Lhundup)
Date: 1987 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.9 minutes
Words: ~2,516
Likewise there’s these three modes of appearance with respect to emptiness. To someone who has not realized emptiness, then there’s the appearance of true existence and there’s grasping at this appearance as being true. To a person who has realized emptiness, an ordinary person who has realized emptiness, there is the appearance of true existence but there’s not the mental grasping at this appearance as being true. For someone who has direct perception of emptiness, then even the appearance of true existence is negated. So the way of meditating, the method of meditating on the naturally existing I is by means of this four point analysis.
We have to have the complete four point analysis in order to come to a correct understanding. So then we have to consider how the I is a dependent arising. We understand the I as the merely nominal I, the merely named I. That in dependence upon the merely named I, we create karma, that we experience the fruit of our karma. It is merely the aggregation of causes and conditions.
So all these things arise in dependence upon the mere aggregation of causes and conditions. That this mere I is merely imputed by conception on the basis of the imputation, which is the five aggregates. So the I is merely imputed upon the five aggregates, which is the basis of imputation. Except for this I, is there any other I? Is there an I which is independent, or is an I coming from the side of the aggregates?
There’s no I coming from the side of the aggregates. It’s merely completely coming from being imputed by conception upon the five aggregates. So the I, the person is merely being imputed by a valid conception, by a valid conception. Upon a proper basis of imputation. If there’s no basis of imputation of I, then there’s no I.
But is this basis of does it objectively exist? It also does not objectively exist. It is being imputed also, the basis of imputation. So, this is extremely difficult to understand. We have to again and again study this.
Then we’ll understand it. We’re just planting seeds now, but we have to think about it again and again. You study, they’ll become clearer and clearer to you. So in order to establish the existence of the mere I, the merely named I, there must be three factors. There’s three factors, three qualities, three factors.
There must be a valid basis imputation. There must be a valid cognition, a valid conception imputing, with a valid imputing conception, a valid imputing conception, and also must not be refuted by an ultimate valid cognition analyzing by a valid cognition analyzing the ultimate. It must not be refuted by a valid cognition analyzing for the ultimate. Those are the three factors, three qualities for the establishment of a merely named eye. So there must be a valid basis of imputation.
There must be a valid imputing conception. So, are these three. There’s the valid basis of imputation. There’s the valid imputing consciousness conception. And it must not be refuted by a valid cognition analyzing for the ultimate.
This is the way the mere I would be established. Mere named I would be established. So, this third factor, this not refuted by the valid cognition analyzing for the ultimate, since it would refute the inherently existent I, we can understand that the inherently existent I doesn’t even exist conventionally because it would be refuted by this third factor. So this I, the I which appears is merely an appearance, it is merely named, it is merely imputed. It is established on the mere aggregation of causes and conditions.
So, again and again, we take this to mind, again and again, go over this, thinking about this again and again until once it appears to our mind, then we can easily understand that the I is not independently existing. So again and again, think about the way the I is merely established through the aggregation of causes and conditions. Then we can understand that the I which is not dependent upon cause and conditions does not exist. So we understand, for example, that a flower arises in dependence upon the aggregation of cause and conditions. We plant the seed, we put fertilizer, we put water, and then we get a flower.
And therefore, this thinking about how it arises in dependence upon causes and conditions, we will not think of the flower as having independent existence. So, when we understand that, for example, a sprout arises on the mere aggregation of causal conditions, then this understanding will negate the apprehension of the sprout as existing independent of cause and condition. So understanding that the sprout arises upon the aggregation of causes and conditions, then when the sprout grows up it becomes, for example, rice. And these various objects of enjoyment, objects of use we have like rice, whatever object, we can see that they’re dependent arising, arising in dependence upon the aggregation of causes and conditions. So, when we understand that things arise on the aggregation of causes and conditions.
And just by the mere appearance, we understand that things are not inherent existent, that they’re empty of being independent of the cause and the conditions that we see that emptiness, dependent arising are not contradictory but accompany each other, then we have come to the correct view of emptiness. When we meditate on the non inherent existence and our belief in the law of cause and effect. So, it’s through the power of correct meditation when we actually realize emptiness. This has the effect of increasing our belief in the law of cause and effect. It acts to really give us a great deal of belief in the practice of Dharma.
Begin to make our strength of our practice, the power will increase. Because we understand that things do not have independent existence. They do not have self powered existence. Everything that exists rises in dependence upon the aggregation of causes and conditions. Therefore, we see that this gives us that we to create the causes and conditions to experience the effect that all these the mind of enlightenment, all these realizations, arise in dependence upon causes and conditions.
Therefore, in this way, the strength of our meditation will be increased. So, we have to understand the meaning of dependent arising. If we don’t understand it, our practice will not have power. So, the beginning we should try to understand the mode of the way we apprehend inherent existence. The root of cyclic existence is the conception of objects existing inherently, so we have to make effort in order to understand how we are apprehending, grasping at things to inherently exist.
So the basis of imputation of the eye is the five aggregates. So the basis imputation of the I is the five aggregates. Now, if we take this basis of imputation of the five aggregates and we separate them out, we divide them up, and looking for the I, we are not going to find anything which is the I. So, today we were explaining the method of meditation on selflessness from the point of view of being free from one or many. There are many ways of meditating on selflessness.
There are many different types of ways of meditating on selflessness. So, another way we can meditate on selflessness is from the point that the person is merely the aggregation of the six elements, aggregation of the six elements. So, in dependence upon the aggregation of these six elements, there’s earth, water, fire, and wind, space and consciousness element. When these aggregate together, this serves as the basis of imputation of I. So, make an analysis.
You know, the object of negation, the I which is the object of negation, if it exists, then it must exist as the same or different as the six elements. So, the way the I appears is that there’s no differentiation between the I and the six elements. We don’t see any difference between the six elements and I. So if this inherently existent I actually existed, then when we analyze, we divide out the six elements and we look within them, we should be able to find this I, but we don’t find it. Upon having made this search, not finding this I, the thought arises, I don’t inherently exist.
This is a thought, this thought, I don’t inherently exist. So, when there arises the appearance of the absence, of emptiness, and then exactly on that we sit in meditative equipoise. We don’t need to think again that I don’t inherently exist. So when we’ve destroyed, when we’ve negated the object of negation, the object which is to be refuted, then exactly at that time we sit in meditative equipoise on that once we’ve destroyed that object of negation. So from beginning this time, we have held the non-existent to be existent.
That which doesn’t really exist, we’ve held to actually exist. When we’ve destroyed this holding of that which doesn’t exist to exist, then that is what we want to meditate on. So when we settle the meaning of the selfless as a person, then we go on to meditate, settle the meaning of selfless phenomena. So, with respect to phenomena, there are two types: products and non products. So with respect to products, there are three types of products.
There’s forms, consciousnesses, and non associated compositional factors. So even though we may ascertain that the I does not inherently exist, we can still hold to the inherent existence of the five aggregates, the basis of imputation. The five aggregates. So again, the aggregates are merely established through the mere aggregation of causes and conditions. So to us, as aggregates appear, for example, as the way the body appears to us, it doesn’t really exist that way.
If the body, for example, the aggregates existed the way they appeared, for example, the body aggregates, the body, you know, if we take it apart, terms, in what way do we Is the head the body? Is the skin the body? Is the stomach the body? The legs, the arms? Liver.
We don’t find the body. So the aggregate, the body, does not exist independently. It’s merely being imputed upon things like the intestines, the arms, the legs, and things like that. But when the body appears to the mind, the place where it’s actually being imputed appears to us to exist concretely. It appears to us not to depend or rely on anything.
So the aggregate is merely being imputed upon its parts. Merely named upon its parts. So, for example, you take the part of the aggregate, the part of the body, the head, it appears, you know, at the place it is appearing, which is actually the place of imputation, the head appears very concrete as if it’s not dependent upon or does not rely on anything. It does not rely on its parts. It is not being created by the mind, as if it is not being created by the mind.
So, but, you know, if the head existed as it appeared, you know, it appears to exist independent. But if we look for such a head amongst all the brain, the eye, the blood, etcetera of the head, we do not find this type of a head. The head is merely being imputed by conception upon the basis of imputation, which are the parts. Aside from being merely imputed, if we try to find the head, we won’t find it. Likewise, we take the hand.
Now, hand is merely imputed by conception, but it appears to us to exist concretely, independently. If we look for that type of hand the way it appears, if we look for it on the back of the hand, the front of the hand, the fingers, etcetera, we’re not going to find that hand as it appears to us. So the hand is like the reflection of a face in the mirror. It’s merely appearance being imputed by conception. When we understand that the hand does not objectively exist, We understand that it’s merely being imputed by conception.
It doesn’t objectively exist, that it’s completely empty of objective existence. So we should make this analysis in our meditation just as we’ve done here from the top of our hair from the top of our head down to our complete body. All the parts of the body going through, seeing how the way they appear, do they actually exist that way, and making this analysis going through the parts. So in the beginning, we should come to an understanding that things arise dependent upon the aggregation of causes and conditions, that they are not independently existing. And then we come to understand that even though things appear to us not to be imputed by conception, but in fact they appear to have objective existence, independent existence.
Well, if they existed the way they appear, then they must be, you know, the same they must be same or different. Now, if they’re the same, what repercussions are there? How can we what kind of faults are there? If it’s different, then what kind of faults are there? We have to make this examination.
In this way, we come to the understanding that things do not exist the way they appear. They do not have natural existence. If understand that the body does not naturally exist, we’re not going to be attached to it. So, you know, understand that I don’t naturally exist. Understanding that I don’t actually exist, we understand that my body does not naturally exist.
We understand that others’ bodies don’t naturally exist. We that others’ bodies don’t naturally exist. Understand that others don’t naturally exist. Must come is the most important point of coming to an understanding that things do not naturally exist. If we don’t come to an understanding that things do not naturally exist, there is no exit from cyclic existence.
So, whatever appears to us, whether it’s good or bad, is merely being imputed by conception. It in no way exists from its own side. It’s one’s own conception which is imputing it. So when we understand that all sentient beings are merely being imputed, then we can through meditation, through cultivation, there we can have the appearance of all sentient beings as being one’s loved one and an enemy will never appear to you. Likewise, if we cultivate the attitude that all sentient beings are teacher.
We can cultivate the imputation of the conception that all sentient beings are Buddha, then whatever sentient being appears to us appears as Buddha. So, All these appearances are dependent upon one’s own mind. Whatever appears is dependent upon your own mind. So, if we take an example of a pot, a pot appears to us